Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Charleston, SC

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000 FXUS62 KCHS 192014 AFDCHS AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 414 PM EDT SUN MAY 19 2013 .SYNOPSIS...
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AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER THE AREA WILL DISSIPATE THROUGH TUESDAY. ATLANTIC HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN PREVAIL UNTIL LATE WEEK. A COLD FRONT WILL DROP THROUGH THE AREA LATE FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY...FOLLOWED BY HIGH PRESSURE THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND.
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&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/...
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THIS AFTERNOON...ONGOING SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE WITH THE BULK OF THE ACTIVITY ACROSS SOUTHEAST GA AND INTO SOUTHEAST SC ALONG THE SAVANNAH RIVER. THE FOCUS FOR THE STRONGEST CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE TO BE LOCATIONS CLOSER TO THE ALTAMAHA NEAR THE AXIS OF BEST INSTABILITY AND WHERE THE BEST INSOLATION TOOK PLACE OVER THE LAST FEW HOURS. STORMS ROUGHLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF I-16 MAY BRIEFLY BECOME SEVERE WITH HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS AND STRONG DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. THE OVERALL SEVERE THREAT IS STILL LOW HOWEVER AND WILL BE ISOLATED AT BEST. TONIGHT...THE OVERALL SYNOPTIC SETUP WILL BE SIMILAR TO LAST NIGHT WITH THE BAGGY MID-LEVEL DISTURBANCE POSITIONED TO THE NORTH AND MOIST SOUTHERLY/SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW AROUND ATLANTIC HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE. ONCE THE LINGERING EVENING STORMS DIMINISH WITH THE LOSS OF AFTERNOON HEATING...THERE WILL BE A PERIOD OF MINIMAL PRECIP COVERAGE UNTIL LATE TONIGHT. IN THE LATE NIGHT PERIOD...THE VARIOUS HI-RES MODELS SHOW ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIP MOVING ONSHORE FROM THE ATLANTIC AND AFFECTING MAINLY THE SC COASTLINE. DEEP MOISTURE WITH PWATS AROUND 1.7 INCHES AND SUBTLE CONVERGENCE WITHIN THE ONSHORE SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL BE THE PRIMARY DRIVER. POPS FEATURE A WEST TO EAST GRADIENT WITH SLIGHT CHANCES TO THE WEST AND HIGH CHANCES TO THE EAST ACROSS CHARLESTON COUNTY. THE PRESENCE OF ELEVATED INSTABILITY ABOVE THE NOCTURNAL INVERSION WILL KEEP THUNDER IN THE FORECAST...BUT THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IS LOW. MORE OF A CONCERN IS LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...ESPECIALLY SINCE MANY LOCATIONS ACROSS EASTERN CHARLESTON COUNTY SAW OVER 2 INCHES OF RAIN OVERNIGHT LAST NIGHT. TEMPS WILL CONTINUE TO BE VERY MILD...ONLY FALLING INTO THE UPPER 60S TO LOW 70S.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
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THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH ALOFT WILL BE SITUATED OVER THE REGION MONDAY THEN WILL WEAKEN/UNRAVEL AND HIGHER PWATS SHOULD BE SHUNTED INLAND TUESDAY AS HEIGHTS TEMPORARILY BUILD ALOFT AND ATLANTIC SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE EXPANDS WESTWARD. THUS...EXPECT GREATER COVERAGE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY AS COMPARED TO TUESDAY. MONDAY...FORECASTS INDICATE HIGH CHANCE/LIKELY POPS AT MANY LOCATIONS AWAY FROM THE BEACHES AROUND THE TIME OF MAX HEATING MIDDAY UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON. THEN...CAPPED GREATEST POPS IN CHANCE CATEGORY AWAY FROM THE BEACHES TUESDAY AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...IF THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH PERSISTS INTACT LONGER THAN EXPECTED...TUESDAY COULD BECOME SOMEWHAT MORE ACTIVE THAN INDICATED IN THIS FORECAST. CANNOT RULE OUT BRIEF/PULSE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY OR TUESDAY AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY WHERE MESOSCALE BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS OCCUR...BUT THE PRIMARY CONCERN WILL REMAIN LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AS PWATS REMAIN AROUND 1.75 INCHES ESPECIALLY MONDAY AND MULTICELL CONVECTION EXHIBITS SLOW/SOMEWHAT ERRATIC PROPAGATION. TUESDAY...PWATS SHOULD DECREASE TO SOME DEGREE. WEDNESDAY...TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 80S TO AROUND 90F WILL BECOME MORE COMMON AS THE ATLANTIC RIDGE PREVAILS. HOWEVER...THE SYNOPTIC SCALE UPPER TROUGH APPROACHING FROM THE WEST WILL BEGIN TO IMPACT THE REGION...SO AT LEAST SLIGHT CHANCE/CHANCE POPS FOR DIURNAL SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS ARE JUSTIFIED DUE TO THE INFLUENCE OF THE SEA BREEZE AND THE UPPER TROUGH.
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&& .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... SIGNIFICANT MODEL DIFFERENCES APPEAR IN THE LONG TERM...MAINLY REGARDING THE NEXT UPPER TROUGH THAT SHIFTS INTO THE EASTERN UNITED STATES LATE IN THE WEEK. WE ARE TRENDING TOWARD THE ECMWF WHICH MOVES THE UPPER TROUGH AND A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE AREA ON SATURDAY WITH A DRY AND COOLER CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM BUILDING IN THEREAFTER. THUS WE ARE SHOWING DIURNAL...MAINLY SEABREEZE-DRIVEN POPS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...THEN DRY OVER THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION /20Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
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AT KSAV...THE MOST IMMEDIATE CONCERN IS DIRECT IMPACTS FROM THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NEXT 4-5 HOURS. CURRENTLY NUMEROUS SHOWERS ARE DEVELOPING IN THE VICINITY AND A PREVAILING VCTS IS BEING CARRIED IN THE FORECAST. STILL CAN/T SAY WITH TOTAL CONFIDENCE THAT A THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE DIRECTLY OVER THE AIRFIELD BUT I HAVE ADDED A TEMPO FOR MVFR TSRA BETWEEN 20-22Z. THE MAIN IMPACT WILL BE REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN HEAVY CONVECTIVE RAINS...BUT GUSTY WINDS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. THEN OVERNIGHT...THE MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM WILL BE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MVFR CEILINGS. I HAVE KEPT THE FORECAST SCATTERED AT THE MVFR LEVEL...BUT SUBSEQUENT TAF ISSUANCES MAY NEED TO GO PREVAILING MVFR. AT KCHS...AFTERNOON SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OCCURRED NEAR THE AIRFIELD AND THEN PUSHED INLAND. BASED ON EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER...THIS AREA SHOULD REMAIN MAINLY PRECIP FREE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON SO I HAVE KEPT ANY MENTION OF SHOWERS/STORMS OUT OF THE FORECAST. THE MAIN FORECAST ISSUE FOR CHS OVERNIGHT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF MVFR LEVEL CEILINGS AND SHOWERS LATE. MODELS ONCE AGAIN HINT AT AN AXIS OF SHOWERS STREAMING IN FROM OFFSHORE AND INTO MUCH OF CHARLESTON COUNTY LATE TONIGHT. CONFIDENCE IN THE EXACT PLACEMENT OF THESE SHOWERS ISN/T HIGH BUT COVERAGE SHOULD BE HIGH ENOUGH SUCH THAT A SHRA MENTION IS WARRANTED. ALSO...THE FORECAST FEATURES PREVAILING MVFR CEILINGS STARTING AT 10Z. EXTENDED AVIATION...THE MAIN CONCERN WILL BE SPORADIC REDUCTIONS IN CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES...MAINLY ASSOCIATED WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE GREATEST CHANCES WILL BE IN THE AFTERNOON HOURS SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...ALTHOUGH EARLY MORNING FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS CANNOT BE RULED OUT EACH DAY.
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&& .MARINE...
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TONIGHT...NO CHANGE TO THE SETUP WITH ATLANTIC HIGH PRESSURE DRIVING PERSISTENT S TO SE FLOW. WIND SPEEDS WILL REMAIN AT OR BELOW 15 KTS WITH SEAS 2-4 FT. OFFSHORE HIGH PRESSURE WILL PERSIST THROUGH LATE WEEK...WITH LOCALLY/BRIEFLY STRONGER ONSHORE WINDS AS HIGH AS 20 KT DUE TO THE DIURNAL SEA BREEZE CIRCULATION EACH DAY. SEAS WILL AVERAGE 2 TO 4 FEET MUCH OF THE TIME. AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT LATE IN THE PERIOD...A TIGHTENING SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT COULD CONTRIBUTE TO STRONGER WINDS AND BUILDING SEAS...AND THE PROBABILITY FOR LOW END SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS WILL INCREASE SOMEWHAT MID TO LATE WEEK.
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&& .CHS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. SC...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && $$ SYNOPSIS... NEAR TERM...BSH SHORT TERM...SPR LONG TERM...JRL AVIATION...BSH/SPR MARINE...BSH/SPR

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